After a traumatic week punctuated by record-high volatility and some of the heaviest trading volumes of the year, the market was in desperate need of affirmation. A buying binge by a few big companies flush with cash is pure tonic.

It does a couple of things. It makes investors look at opportunities instead of dwelling on recent losses. Also, amid all the talk of companies hoarding cash as if Armageddon were right around the corner, it shows that some businesses still see a future worth betting on.

That’s an important reminder to the rest of the investment community. It is not, however, an incitement to blindly dump money into the market.

The examples seen Monday — mobile devices, communications and oil-field service companies — are in hot sectors, which have been hot for a while. Notice no one is pouncing on lumber companies.

But that doesn’t mean corporations sitting on billions of dollars have permanently retired their cash, even though it’s felt that way for months. That, along with a bunch of recently shelved IPOs, have been major contributors to the market’s deep summer funk.

So does a rare merger Monday and the market’s upbeat reaction signal a return to stability? Probably not. But at a bare minimum, it appears to have replaced the wholesale pandemonium seen last week with a sense of selective purpose.

Some might even call it the beginning of a fragile confidence, though “fragile” remains the operative word.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.